Students save millions in loan borrowing as result of Fees Free policy

“More than 30,000 fewer students borrowed to pay tertiary fees last year, compared with 2017, saving them $194.2 million,” Education Minister Chris Hipkins said.

Students have saved hundreds of millions of dollars in loan borrowing as a result of the Coalition Government's first-year Fees Free policy, final figures show.

"More than 30,000 fewer students borrowed to pay tertiary fees last year, compared with 2017, saving them $194.2 million," Education Minister Chris Hipkins said.

"That's a sizeable chunk of the cost New Zealanders face when embarking in in post-school education and training, and it means that once they've finished they're much better placed to get on with life without a huge debt burden weighing them down."

In total, over the first year of fees-free tertiary education and training, 47,019 students and trainees received tertiary education that was fees-free, Chris Hipkins said.

Of that total:

36,116 attended tertiary education institutions (universities, institutes of technology and polytechnics - ITPs, and wānanga).

6,973 attended private training establishments.

4,845 undertook training through industry training organisations.

(With Inputs from New Zealand Government Press Release)